


The Dance and the Demons, Part 1: The Princess

by Zdenka



Series: The Dance and the Demons (Purimgifts 2021) [1]
Category: 12 Dancing Princesses (Fairy Tale)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Jewish, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Demons, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29658492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zdenka/pseuds/Zdenka
Summary: The eldest princess and her sisters are brought to a strange underground kingdom.
Series: The Dance and the Demons (Purimgifts 2021) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2187579
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11
Collections: Purimgifts 2021





	The Dance and the Demons, Part 1: The Princess

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lea_hazel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lea_hazel/gifts).



> Happy Purim, lea_hazel! I hope you enjoy this story. Part 2 will be revealed tomorrow.

Once upon a time, there was a king and queen who had twelve daughters. The princesses were beautiful, clever, wise, and brave, and both the king and the queen cherished them dearly. Now the princesses were of an age to be married, and many kings and princes from neighboring kingdoms sought their hand. But the king turned away every suitor on some pretext or another, feeling that none of them were good enough.

At last the queen became concerned, and she said to the king, “Will you keep our daughters unwedded all their days? It is said that the Holy One ordains a destined match for every human being even before their birth. Among so many suitors, surely some can be found who are worthy.”

But the king only declared, “I will wait a while longer. Our daughters are such fine girls, no man on earth is worthy of them!”

Not long after that, a strange thing happened to the eldest princess. She was combing her hair one night before going to bed; the room was dim, with only a few candles burning. The princess gazed drowsily at her mirror image and the reflected candles burning behind it.

Suddenly, the candles in the mirror all flickered wildly as if in a strong wind, and then went out. The room seemed to spin around her, faster and faster, and the shadows slid out from the mirror and wrapped around her. As if in a dream, the princess rose and put on her finest gown, with her silk slippers that she wore for dancing, and pinned her hair up again with jeweled pins.

When she was fully dressed and adorned, the floor beneath her bed seemed to open up, and a long staircase appeared, the mirror-image of the one outside her room. She found herself walking down it in darkness. She reached the end of the staircase and stepped out into a place sparkling with light. She blinked to clear her eyes and looked around her.

The princess saw that she was standing in a beautiful grove of trees, where all the branches and the leaves and the flowers were made of shining silver. Beside her was a man richly dressed in embroidered robes and jewels, with peacock plumes in his hat. He smiled and greeted her courteously, though there was something in his expression that she did not quite trust.

The princess asked, “Who are you? What is this place to which I have come so strangely?”

He replied, “I am a prince of this kingdom. Come with me, and I will show you the beauties of our land.” The unknown prince took her hand and led her through the silver grove. They passed onward through a grove even more beautiful where all the trees were made of gold, and last a grove where tree and leaf and flower were made of diamonds and sparkled with the greatest brilliance. The princess marveled greatly at all she saw.

They came to the shore of a beautiful lake, where the prince took her into a small boat and rowed her across. On the other side was a magnificent palace, festooned with jeweled garlands and brightly illuminated. Inside was a hall full of gaily swirling dancers, brilliantly dressed lords and ladies covered with jewels.

The princess watched the dancers, but suddenly she stepped back in horror—for she realized that their shadows were wrong; some shadows leaned in the wrong direction from the light, some were thin and scant like wispy clouds, and some of the lords and ladies had no shadow at all.

With dread, she turned to look at the prince beside her. She had not noticed it before, but his shadow too was wrong—instead of feet in elegant boots, it had clawed talons. The princess knew then she was in a kingdom of demons, and perhaps she was in great danger.

The prince bowed to her. “Your father is very proud,” he said, “and he thinks no man on earth is worthy to marry you. I can give you a beautiful palace to live in, much finer than your father’s, and all the jewels and beautiful gowns you desire. What say you, will you be my bride?”

The princess said, “I will not. I do not wish to marry a demon.”

The prince only laughed and said, “If you will not marry me, perhaps your next sister will marry one of my brothers.” He took her hand and pulled her into the dance, much though she did not wish it.

She danced with the demon prince for hours, until she was weary and her feet ached. When he led her back to her room, the dawn was just breaking in the sky, and the candles had burned out. The princess collapsed on her bed and wondered if it had all been a dream. But no; she was still dressed in her best gown, and the delicate slippers she was wearing were worn to shreds.

The next night, the demon prince came for her again; but this time, her next oldest sister was brought into the grove after her, her hand in the grip of a second prince.

“Perhaps you have thought better of your refusal,” the first prince said. “Will you marry me and remain in this kingdom?”

“No, I will not,” said the eldest princess. And her sister likewise refused to marry the second demon prince. This continued for twelve nights, until all the sisters were brought into the demons’ kingdom to dance until dawn.

The queen their mother asked them why they seemed so tired, and why their shoes must be replaced each day. But try as they might, the princesses could not answer; whenever they wished to speak of the demon kingdom, their lips were sealed by magic. And every night they were taken away to dance in the underground kingdom, and every morning their shoes were found worn to bits.

**Author's Note:**

> The Talmud, in describing how one can tell the difference between a human and a demon, says that "demons have a shadow but they do not have the shadow of a shadow." (Gittin 66a:9) I'm honestly not sure what that means, but I thought it would be interesting to give the demons shadows that weren't quite right. Demons are also sometimes said to have birds' talons for feet.
> 
> _Image Credit:_
> 
> Edited from an illustration by Virginia Frances Sterrett, from _Old French Fairy Tales_ by Comtesse de Segur.


End file.
